This invention relates generally to automotive accessories. More specifically, it relates to air current deflectors, commonly referred to as bug and gravel shields, which may be detachably attached to the front edge portion of an automobile, generally along the front edge of a vehicle.
By way of background, bug and gravel shields for vehicles have been known before as represented by earlier issued, commonly owned patents: Thornburgh U.S. Pat. No. 3,015,517 issued Jan. 2, 1962; Redmond U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,129 issued May 8, 1979; and Williams et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,191 issued May 21, 1985. Other patents on bug and gravel shields include: U.S. Pat. No. 2,872,242 issued Feb. 3, 1959; U.S. Pat. No. 3,281,181 issued Oct. 25, 1966; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,150 issued July 4, 1967. There are, of course, numerous other patents that relate to bug and gravel shields.
As far as Applicants are aware, it is common to all of the bug and gravel shield prior art, as conveniently illustrated by the prior issued commonly-owned Thornburgh Pat. No. 3,015,517 and Redmond Pat. No. 4,153,129, to comprise three basic portions. Those portions include the shield itself, an extrusion channel which dwells along the lower edge of the shield and holds the shield, and an attaching bracket for the shield. The use of extrusion channels, while it makes attachment directly to the vehicle convenient, has certain disadvantages. Amongst those disadvantages are expense, the labor involved in inserting the shield into the extrusion channel opening, and of course the increased cost of manufacture by use of an extrusion channel holder. It would, therefore, be desirable to eliminate the holding extrusion channel which dwells along the lower edge of the shield.
In the past, it was thought necessary for the extrusion channel to be a part of the overall bug and gravel shield unit in order to preserve the integrity of the unit from cracking, in order to better allow mounting of the unit, and in order to allow the unit to be bent to conform to the front edge of a vehicle. Typically, the shields used in the past were all of a constant cross-sectional thickness.
It has now been discovered that a single piece, integrally formed shield can be made which avoids the use of an extrusion channel bracket member, providing that the shield has a proper cross-sectional configuration as hereinafter defined, and providing that the shield is made of certain preselected plastic materials.
It is accordingly the primary objective of the present invention to prepare a single piece, integrally formed bug and gravel shield which will function as effectively as aluminum channel extrusion-held shields, but which employs no channel and thus has significantly increased cost effectiveness compared to extrusion channel held shields and at the same time provides each of the benefits and advantages thereof.
The method and means of accomplishing the primary objective of the invention as well as others will be apparent from the detailed description which follows hereinafter.